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The newly described millipede (Burmanopetalum inexpectatum) seen in amber.
Credit: ZooKeys
About 99 million years ago, a Millennial Cretaceous scampered over the forest in Southeast Asia. The arthropod is being avoided by being dinosaurs, but it has been a bad thing to stumble into a sticky patch of sap, which is hardened around the millipede and it is locked up.
While it was a terrible outcome for the millipede, it was great news for the scientists who recently discovered the tiny corpse.
The fossil of a 0.3 inch (8.2 mm) in length, was so well-preserved that its tiny body structures were retained in exceptional condition. This enabled scientists to identify the tiny arthropods, but a previously unknown species, adding a branch to the millipede family tree. [Fabulous Fossils: Photos of the Earliest Animal Organs]
Using micro-computed X-ray tomography (micro-CT) scans, the scientists constructed a digital 3D model of the millipede, which was curled into an "S" shape inside the lump of amber. The creature had 35 body rings and fully developed sperm-storing bags on its underside, which confirmed that the female specimen was a mature adult, the study authors said.
Today, millipedes are abundant and diverse, with about 11,000 species identified and as many as 80,000 species estimated to exist worldwide, the researchers said in a new study. But little known and well-known researcher, Pavel Stoev, a professor of zoology at the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia in Bulgaria.
Evidence in the record fossil shows that millipedes were around as early as 315 million to 299 million years ago, with some growing to nearly 8 feet (2 meters) in length, Stoev told Live Science in an email.
"Burmese amber, which is known to be one of the oldest species in the world, is one of the oldest and most important deposits of Cretaceous fauna," Stoev said.
Micro-CT scans enabled scientists to reconstruct the ancient millipede in 3D.
Credit: ZooKeys
Other than the millipede's unusually small size, several clues told the scientists that this specimen is different from the other suborders within the Callipodida order. It lacked certain hair-like growths; The shape of its rear segment is unique, and while it is most likely to be used in the manufacture of optical components, the small millipede's eyes held only five- "the lowest limit known in the group," Stoev said.
The researchers named Burmanopetalidea and dubbed the arthropod Burmanopetalum inexpectatum. Burma, now Myanmar – while "inexpectatum" is Latin for "unexpected," celebrating the discovery of a new millipede suborder, according to the study.
The findings were published today (May 2) in the journal Zookeys.
Originally published on Live Science.
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